


Terra Incognita

by oneironym



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Gen, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Spoilers for 4.2+, Spoilers for 4.55, a power dynamic that neither of them are quite sure about?, awkward flirting maybe?, men avoid discussing their feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 19:35:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18453215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneironym/pseuds/oneironym
Summary: “You are not here to discuss the maps."





	Terra Incognita

**Author's Note:**

> I blame this on StepOnMeZenos and shower thoughts. Also thxu to Ithums.

The meeting between Ala Mhigo’s leaders to discuss the next steps of defense against Garlemald had ended ten minutes before. Once the last of the lingering captains departed, Maxima and Raubahn remained as the sole occupants of the room. The Garlean leaned over the meeting table, pen in hand (a curious tool, with a tiny inkwell somehow built  _ inside _ so that there was no need to dip it), as he scanned over a half-dozen maps; the commander in turn sat with his elbow on the table and his chin on his palm, studying the erstwhile Imperial in thought. 

Raubahn praised the Navigator that the Populares had managed to recover at least some of their maps from the wreckage of their airship in the Burn before everything had been completely consumed by flames. Maxima had been working on splicing what information he had together with Eorzea’s documents, as neither side yet had anything approaching a complete map of the region between their respective nations. Raubahn watched Maxima as he pored over the pages, the tip of his pen poised above them, trying to recreate parts of his homeland in precise detail from a combination of singed air navigation charts, Eorzean maps of varying quality, and his own memory.

“I crossed this river no more than eight days ago and yet I cannot recall its name for the life of me,” Maxima sighed after a stretch, twirling his pen between his fingers to tap the back end twice on the spot on the page. He glanced up at Raubahn as he spoke, jolting the Ala Mhigan commander to the realization that of  _ course _ the Garlean had been aware that he had been staring all this time. How many times had Raubahn peered back into one of those queer, callous third eyes on the battlefield, which never changed with a man’s expression….

“I know this province in some detail, but more to fly a ship above it, not to march troops across it,” the former pilus continued with a frown of frustration. “If only I had access to van Baelsar’s pre-Calamity maps, or if we should have the good fortune to procure a map from ou-- from the Imperial forces.” Realizing what he had nearly said, his shoulders slumped slightly.

“Yours is already the best bloody map of Garlemald - any part of it - I’ve yet seen,” Raubahn reassured him. The former Imperial had been earnest and forthcoming in his desire to share his intelligence, which was more than enough to make him an ally of convenience at the very least. Not to mention Maxima had been nothing but polite and cooperative to work with; he was no faceless invader.

The Ala Mhigan gestured towards the maps and charts, a smile forming on his lips, and added, “The information you have been able to provide thus far has still been invaluable to us and to our troops. We can learn the name of that river when we march our armies across it.”

Maxima arched a brow and glanced away. “I believe we Garleans have already learnt too much of our geography in that manner, but I think I understand your sentiment, at least.” An awkward silence then filled the meeting room, punctuated only by the soft scratching of the Garlean’s writing and the occasional shuffle of pages.

Raubahn sighed, squeezing his eyes shut and scrubbing his hand over his eyes to try to ward off a pang of regret for his words. Twelve above, he could only imagine what the other man felt. Maxima thus far appeared as collected as one could expect of a man run out of his home by his own Emperor, yet Raubahn itched with vague worry at what emotions might be fueling the almost-too-diligent motions of his writing. Raubahn himself had spent years venting his frustrations by spilling blood on the sands of Ul’dah’s Coliseum, until one day he had realized that his own success was was his best revenge against the armies who had destroyed his home. It had taken him too long to grasp that pure, single-minded focus on re-conquest was no way to truly live.

And his old friend Ilberd had, apparently, never learned. The Ala Mhigan now simply wanted to protect the Garlean defector from falling, like a blinkered chocobo running headlong towards a cliff, down the same ruinous path.

… Thal’s balls, maybe the Lady Sultana had made him soft. Yet if the Bull of Ala Mhigo had learned aught from her, it was the value of being given a second chance. Of having the chance, and, moreover, the fortitude of body and mind to work to seize it. He was not sure as to how yet, but he hoped he could aid the Garlean refugee in carving himself a new - and fulfilling - life.

Commander Aldynn sat, and then he squirmed, and then he finally reached across the table for one of the charts that did not presently hold Maxima’s attention. The two of them exchanged a glance and Maxima gestured that he could take it. Raubahn’s thick fingers fumbled with the edge of the page twice before he managed to get his thumb underneath to lift it from the table; he tried to pretend it had not happened as he unfolded the map the rest of the way to scan over Maxima’s annotations.

“You are not here to discuss the maps,” the Garlean remarked, at last breaking the quiet. It was more a statement than a question.

Caught a bit off-guard, Raubahn set the parchment aside and reached up to rub his thumb along the stubble of his chin. “Am I not allowed concern for a man who has been through Hells in recent weeks?” Here Maxima was, on scarcely a week’s rest in what could have been, by all rights, be hostile territory, surrendering military intelligence from his homeland. “Truth be told, I am surprised you feel up to this task already.”

Only briefly raising his eyes form his work, Maxima leaned down put his fingers to his brow. “I need something to do,” he replied. “It may not make me feel better, but I know that doing nothing will only make me feel worse.”

The Ala Mhigan grunted in agreement and nodded once. “I’ve suffered the same myself.” He felt a dull phantom pain travel down the arm he no longer had. “It is well and good you have a productive outlet, lest you let those thoughts fester inside you. But I will not see you working yourself to the bone like a man who believes he is a prisoner and must buy his life.” Maxima’s facial expression was difficult to read, but Raubahn could always tell when a man carried too much tension in his muscles. “You are safe here,” he reminded him.

The Garlean appeared to consider this for a long moment, then at last set his pen aside. “Thank you,” he replied, a ghost of a genuine smile on his lips as his shoulders relaxed ever so slightly.

Raubahn pushed himself up from his seat and raised his arm over his head to stretch his shoulder. Then he gestured towards the door. “That is to say, I insist that you take a damn break now,” the commander half-threatened, and Maxima laughed slightly. “Mayhaps some fresh air will jog your memory.”

“Alright, alright,” conceded the Garlean before he stood as well, and put a finger to the bridge of his glasses to push them back up his nose.

After the two of them had collected the scattering of maps and navigational charts into a neater pile on the table, the Ala Mhigan commander all but herded Maxima from the meeting room. “Would you like to see the Royal Menagerie?” Raubahn paused outside the doorway to ask. “It’s gone more than a bit wild, and all the animals are gone, but the space is still quite relaxing.”

Maxima shrugged lightly and gestured for the commander to lead the way. “It sounds a fine place. Lead on, you know this place better than I.”

So Raubahn guided him down the corridors of the Royal Palace; it felt so strange, not only being in the former home of so many Ala Mhigan monarchs, but to be there with a man of Garlemald at his side….

“Tell me more of your home,” the commander asked after some minutes, wanting to fill up the halls with more than the quiet echo of their footsteps. Besides, for all that Maxima had been glad to offer what information he had regarding the Imperial troops that prepared to threaten Ala Mhigo, he had spoken precious little of himself. 

Maxima glanced at him, brows raised. “Ah….” His mouth hung open for a second, and then he smiled. This smile was one Raubahn was beginning to figure out, and the one he had hoped to get around; it was like a bloody  _ fucking  _ wall that Maxima seemed to put up whenever Lyse or one of the others had attempted to ask him something personal.

“I have offered all the intelligence I have, or at least all of which I am certain, already,” the former pilus replied. “I have some other hearsay and speculation on the remaining Imperial legions in the field, but I wanted to save those pieces until our meeting tomorrow. I figured it best that you-- that we deal with what is actionable first.”

Raubahn made a point of scowling at him, and he shook his head before clarifying, “Firstly, you are taking a break right now. And secondly, that’s not what I meant.” He hesitated a moment, then, determined to make an effort to break down that wall, pressed on, “Have you got anyone you’ve left behind in Garlemald?”

The other man glanced away, then removed his glasses, putting one earpiece to his lips while he thought for a long moment. “Alive? Only those Populares I was not able to contact to bring with me, or who elected to remain behind in Garlemald.” He paused in the hallway, looking away to trace his gaze along one of cables the prior Imperial occupants had hung along the stone wall to power the ceruleum lighting. “I take care to avoid providing my political opponents within the Empire with anyone they might be able to hurt in order to get to me.”

_ Of fucking course you do, _ Raubahn thought with a small sigh. It was, at least, more than he had been able to get out of Maxima thus far. And, he then realized, an indication the man’s reticence was likely well-practiced, for his own protection, and ultimately nothing personal.

They rounded another corner in the spacious hallways, and the Ala Mhigan commander gestured ahead to an ornate door. Then, his stony features cracking into a slight wry grin, he placed his hand on the Garlean’s shoulder for a moment. “In that case, I hope you find it a comfort to know that the Empire hates me well enough on my own merits already.”


End file.
